Challenge WIP (1)

 I have been slowly working away at Curt's 4th Annual Painting Challenge. While I have not made a submission just yet I am getting close and Hope to finish these this afternoon, All I really need to do is to get the bases dried, painted and a few clumps of foliage and we can call them done. As you can see there are 12 stands each of 4 Ashigaru armed with Naginata. Two in my new read colour scheme and an additional one in the alternative blue/grey of my existing force. Needless to say they are Pendraken Miniatures and are essencially the same as you have seen on this blog before. But the idea is to use the painting challenge to encourage me to paint and make headway into my lead mountain. As opposed to starting new projects.

Well that was the plan until I got an email last night inviting the Rainham club to put a game on at a local show on the 16th March 2014. As this is the day after the challenge finishes I will have to start painting for that game in the next few weeks. This will also mean making a couple of terrain boards as well. While I have them planned in my mind it will all take time and effort and draw me away from the Challenge and especially the bonus rounds. Still this is not a complaint as it will just mean I will try to get various things done for the bonus rounds a little earlier that I had anticipated.

That's todays update. As noted above these should appear on Curt's Blog very soon ( Link ). Thanks for looking and feel free to comment here or on Curt's blog as you want.

All the best Clint

Where to start?

Indeed where to start? Several things of relevance have happened since my last post. Firstly Peter O'Toole has  sadly passed away. While I would not normally comment on an actors live this has struck me as quite relevant. As you will know I plan to run an Arab Revolt game at Broadside next year. You will no doubt also be aware that Peter O'Toole was the brilliant actor who brought Laurence of Arabia to the big screen. Thus I have been reading about this conflict plotting and planning the game and working out the terrain for the game. It just strikes me as very bad timing from my point of view. Not because I feel the universe pays any attention to me of course but because it will inevitably bring the conflict to the for front of wargames minds.

Secondly the Analogue Painting Challenge has now started at 6am local time, yesterday morning. The first few entries are already in. I am one of those painters who has several things on the paint table all at the same time. This in mostly because I can't retain any focus and do not have the determination to stay on a project for very long at all. As I had cleared my painting table ready for the challenge I will be bringing along several things all at the same time, but as things are completed they will get photographed and emailed to Curt for inclusion in the challenge.

So what have I started? So far I have started some more 10mm Ashigaru to bolster my Samurai armies. Some 20mm Arab revolt figures for the Broadside game next year. As well as a couple of 28mm figures. These last two, one for Curt as an entrance fee to the Challenge and one for the first person in the 600 club to reach 600 points. This last figure is a side challenge in which all of the 600 club will paint and present a single figure to the first of us to reach the target 600 points. I have decided to do this early as I don't know how fast certain people will work, and as I suggested the side wager it would be ceorlish of me in the extreme not to be prepared. And should I be the first to finish I will be happy to keep and use the figure.

You may expect the first few points to roll of this production line in the next few days. Probably the Ashigaru but at this stage that is just a guess as I might rush a 54mm Gladiator out for a game tomorrow night! (Not started yet, not even out of it's packet so may be a rush job as I only found out about the game yesterday.)

Additionally my Deadzone order arrived on Saturday so I would like to get them prepped and painted as fast as possible. I already have the colour scheme in my head so it will be good to plough through them.

Finally I will mention the club game I played yesterday. It was a Jet age check your 6 game. (yes I forgot my camera again) Let us just say I had a flight of Argentinian planes and had to attack HMS Plymouth during the Falklands war. All my planes reached the target, all dropped their bombs and all missed the target. The Harriers arrived to help defend the ships and I decided to run away (head for home for wine and medals.) Yeah well that was the plan but the harriers had other ideas and fired infra-red guided missiles at the bombers. Despite missing me it was so close as to get a lucky strike. Graham rolled double 6 to get the hit and another double 6 on the lucky strike table. Which meant the fuel tank exploded. Absolutely nothing I could do. So while I did get my other aircraft off the table having failed to do any damage at all and having lost a plane a clear British win.

That's it for today. I hope to have some painting to show soon. Thanks for reading and more to come soon. Cheers Clint

Painting for a friend (5) and Curt's Challenge.

Well this post should get me back on schedule. It is my own schedule so no one other than me really need worry about it, but none the less it is easier for me to try to keep it as regular as possible.

Today I am showing the final part of the painting I have done for a Friend. Having shown a 28mm Gatling gun yesterday It is only fair that I show a Nordenfelt Machine gun. Again this is by Perry miniatures. I have done a Copplestone one in the past for the same chap. It is interesting to note that they did have different carriages. I like the variety this gives, but that just may be me.

As you can see we also have a rear view of the same model. The blue uniforms have come out a little bright due to the flash, they actually look a bit darker in daylight. This model was harder to put together than the Gatling gun I showed yesterday but at least I did not have to balance a figure on the "seat". Again it was well cast and required almost no cleaning up prior to assembly so I cannot and will not make any complaints about it.

And As I suspected you would all want a group shot of all the finished figures he we are as well.  They may be a little cluttered in the picture, but I do so hope it gives an idea of what they should all look like. Officers ratings and Gunners all together. As mentioned yesterday this is about 1/2 the troops I have done for him on this project now and I think should they ever reach the table top they will look spanking in BLUE!

The Picture below is just for Fran. To demonstrate that big boobies are not the be all and end all of female beauty. Each to there own of course and if he likes women who will develop back ache in later life or who can keep there knees warm when they take of their bras that is his choice.

Now to talk about the challenge. The painting challenge that is. As several people including myself have joined the so called 600 club. I thought I would like to offer them a challenge and suggest that we all paint and donate a 28mm figure to the first person in the group to reach that target. As we are all bloggers you know whom so ever wins will put the figures on their blog as well so double exposure. (That has nothing to do with boobies BTW). Which in turn means that we will all do our best to paint the figure to a high standard.

They have yet to agree to this of course, but I think it could add a little extra flavour to the competition. If you are one of the 600 Club kindly let me know your thoughts.

That's it for today. Probably an AAR on Monday and maybe the start of the challenge as well.

GOOD LUCK to all those taking part and especially the 600 club.

Painting for a friend (4)

Not making a big thing about it but I just did not get the time to Blog yesterday. I will blog again tomorrow though to get me back on schedule so you have been warned.

Today I have finished a Perry Miniatures Gatling gun and crew. Continuing the British Naval landing brigade figures I am painting for a friend. We tend to forget just how large and monstrous these guns actually were. Having seen the one in the Royal Armouries in Leeds I can confirm that this one is indeed in scale. They really are heavy and brutal pieces of kit more than capable of chewing up the enemy.

The model went together very easily with no trimming , filing or mould lines and a minimum of flash. The only problem was that the seated figure. he either refused to sit properly or looked like he was not operating the gun. Finally he did fit into place at the very last moment when the carriage was being stuck to the base, so all ends well.

I will finish the force for him tomorrow and I know from experience you will want a group shot so you can expect one then. It will only have 1/2 the infantry though as he has already taken the first batch back.

That is it for today. As mentioned above I expect to do a final post on these troops tomorrow as tat now clears the painting table for the challenge which starts on Sunday. I will not be starting the challenge until Monday though so most people should get a little head start on me, I should be able to catch up though.

Anyway take care all and hope to see you all again on Saturday. Best Wishes Clint.

Palm Trees.

All the way from China.
 

One of the terrain differences between Afghanistan and Arabia is the foliage. As I will be reusing my Afghanistan boards for the Arab Revolt game, it is important to make a few changes. While the architecture is not the same, it is close enough for us wargamers to use without worry. Yes If I was writing an architectural thesis I would point out all the differences but as a wargamer I don't feel the need. From that point of view they are so close as to make no difference. However simple things do make a difference.

The most obvious one being palm trees. With this in mind I scoured eBay and found a company in China selling them at a bargain price. Including postage I was able to secure 50 model palms for £7.99. They took 11 Days to arrive and I must say I am really quite pleased with them. Obviously ordering from abroad does make you wonder about quality, shipping costs and returns. But I have got to say it was totally hasslefree.






3 Trees and a penny!

Here are three randomly selected trees. They are all very similar but trimming the trunk will add enough variety I think. Given that I will want a board 4' x 6' for the Arab Revolt game I will be looking at 6 boards each 2' on a face. 50 trees over 6 boards means I can invest 8 trees to each board. Which seems to be about the correct density having looked at pictures of Arabian Peninsular towns of the period. Obviously there will be a variety of tree densities, but 8 trees to a board has the right feel I think. Once I start placing them on the boards this plan may change. It is hoped that this very simple addition to the boards will transport them from Afghanistan directly to Arabia.

At this stage I foresee drilling directly into the boards and treating the trees as plugs. This will be far easier than placing them on separate bases and mean they are less likely to get knocked over.

That is todays very quick update. No painting finished just yet as only a couple of things on the painting table as I prepare for Curt's painting challenge. Thanks for reading I shall post again on Thursday so until then, take care and smile if you can. All the best Clint

Practice Camel Painting!

Today I woke up (always a good start I find) with more energy and enthusiasm than I have for about 6 weeks. I even managed to do some DIY. Yes I know a shocker! Anyway I was experimenting on painting some 20mm WW1 Arabs! It has been an open secret that I plan a WW1 game based around the 1916-18 Arab revolt for the BROADSIDE show next year using IT MINIATURES (click name to link) > I will be using IT miniatures because Tim at the club owns the company and this should let a few more people who attend the show or casually look at this blog that his range is quite extensive. Additionally I have never personally seen a WW1 Arab revolt game at any show. That is not you cue to bombard me with links of a plethora of Arab revolt games. Ok you can if you want. I will not talk today about how I plan to implement this game, or the terrain or rules or any details at all about the interesting history and background.
Instead I will talk about how this will fit into Curts painting challenge. At this stage I am thinking about 36 or 48 (they come in packs of 12) Camels with Riders and 24 Turkish foot (Yes you guessed it hey come in packs of 24) with maybe 24 Arabs on foot as well. (the Arabs did fight on both sides after all, but when fighting for the Turks did tend to adopt Turkish Army uniforms) but I might allow myself some poetic licence. Anyway and coming to the point I desperately needed to learn how to paint camels quickly. These have come out a little dark, not too dark to be unusable as Nature does do a variety of Camel tones. Generally they do tend to be lighter though. So I took two from a pack, at random in order to get a little practice done before the Painting challenge starts. being 20mm mounted troops I expect to earn 8 points each from the camels and riders (Not including these two of course). So just painting this force I hope to get 1/2 my points for the whole entire challenge. These two were quick to paint to a reasonable wargames standard and while not happy with the results I do find them acceptable for a wargames table so I think this is the style and level of detail I will go for.

In later posts I will go over the terrain and the rules and some background and history, but that's it for today. Thanks for reading I hope you like the idea of the game and don't find these figures too hideously painted! When sat with 30+ others I am sure they will look the business. (Fingers Crossed).

Best wishes Clint.

Prep (1)

There  may not be a second "prep" blog post, but then again there just might. That all depends on if I can get my act together. I know, I know blummin' flaky git. Yes It's true but at least I am making the effort! Prep for what I hear you say. Well Curt's Analogue Painting Challenge of course! Most of my prep has already been done, but yesterday I thought I should build the models I want to apint as part of the challenge. Don't worry there are not many.

Back in June I bought this "Plastic Soldier Company" box set consisting of 5 sprues of hard plastic. Enough to make a reinforced Platoon of US army M3 or M5 Halftracks. I intend to use these for 15mm PBI by Peter Pig.

Each of the sprues comes with 8 crew figures as well as options for different winches at the front, different mounting systems for the .5 Browning HMG. It also comes with optional vehicle stowage. So if you choose you could easily make a variety of halftracks. There are clear instructions and all the pieces fitted together easily. There was the usual trimming to be done where sprue and component meet, but there was no flash or mould lines that needed any attention at all.  That being the case for the price I did find these a very acceptable alternative to resin. And should I need more I will be happy to get another box.

I did take my time with construction as it is always easier to fix any problems at this stage than when trying to juggle with a paint brush as well. But there were no problems and I could have assembled them quicker if I had chosen.



 I wanted a uniform look to my platoon though. So they all have the same MG copula but I have given different stowage on each and added the .30 Browning MMG to only 2 of the models. I will admit I was tempted to up-gun them all but thought that just looked wrong and unlikely in a war zone. Mind you I have got American troops so maybe I should have added the extra MG's. As you can see I have built them in two batches, and primed 2 at this stage. Today (Friday) they are all primed and waiting for the challenge to start.

The Eagle eyed among you will also have spotted that one has a different winch at the front of the vehicle (bottom left). This was deliberate. While I do want them to look uniform I did also want one to seem maybe slightly older perhaps being used as a replacement. This simple change of winch clearly identifies it. In my mind it is platoon command vehicle, but when it get to the table that idea may/will quickly change.

Overall I am very impressed with these kits. We all know in an absolutely ideal world some support variants could have been included on the sprues, but this is more wishful thinking than practical reality. I for example would like 2 M16 Quad AA mounts or a couple of M4 Mortar carriers. But then I have to wonder how much extra it would cost for the tooling of the injection moulds and then realise that it would lead to a price rise. Darn reality strikes again.

Thank you for Reading today and I shall endeavour to up date this blog on Sunday. All the best Clint

Painting for a friend (3)

Yes another lot of British naval landing party. As they are a friends I am not totally sure but I do think there is one Copplestone and the other 4 Perrys. They are definitely two different makes yet do fit together very well. These are the last of the infantry (at least for now, who knows what will happen in the future!) I will be prepping some machinguns next for him which I hope to do today.
Given that these 5 figures would equate to 25 points in Curt's challenge I will need to pick my speed up somewhat. I will also have to start something else to take me up to the start date for the challenge but at present unsure what that will be. But I shall try to select something simple so that I can be finished in plenty of time. Ray Rousel has suggested I paint some of his figures if I choose. It is a very kind offer but at present I will decline this very kind offer.

Thanks for reading and with luck I shall have something ready for Friday. Take care have fun and get some brushes wet!

Cheers Clint

Hammerin' Iron

Sorry for not Posting on the blog on Saturday. I was having a bad day, and justifiably. I won't go into details.

Anyway that's enough of the sadness and on to the important things like playing games and painting models. Far more important much more interesting and a whole lot more fun.

So at the club yesterday Graham, Matt and myself played a game of "Hammerin' Iron" A set of rules for ACW naval battles. A fun and quirky set of rules in which each side has 6 ships which total to a similar number of points. Graham had the confederates while Matt and Me had the Federal forces. It turned out that we were the attackers and Graham the defenders. Our mission was to destroy a supply depot and sink some barges. We started with 3 ships, 2 monitors and a tinclad which was only armed with light cannon. Graham started with 2 ships and a fort! I now hate forts! The pregame lead to a mishap for my monitor which had engine trouble that resulted in it starting the game unable to move until it was repaired.

I started with the Tinclad and sent it swiftly towards the storage depot. Matt chugged his Monitor forward and I repaired mine which was now on slow speed orders! Matt bought a reserve ship on.

Graham opened up with the fort and drew first blood (a single hit) on Matts Monitor. He moved his other two ships. The weaker one away from us and his own Iron clad directly towards us. He also managed to bring on one of his reserve ships.

The next few turns saw my tinclad fly past the storage depot doing minimal damage on it then speed on to attack the barges where it did manage to cause two hits. My Monitor parked right by the depot and was able to eventually, destroy the lot. Matt's ships did all the real fighting. His monitor took a beating as it was targeted by all of Grahams ships and the fort. Both sides managed to bring on extra ships which quickly got into the action.

Finally Grahams Iron Clad moved past Matts monitor and targeted his two other ships which were unarmoured, but carried a fair number of guns. The picture to the right shows my Monitor in the background firing at the depot Matt's monitor (with the blue order marker) and my tinclad in the foreground. The other two ships are Grahams, his Iron Clad on the right and a Cotton Clad directly in front of Matts Monitor. Grahams had a tinclad that managed to Ram on of Matts wooden hulled ships. While it did not sink it was quite badly damaged from being rammed.

By the time I had destroyed the depot. Graham had managed to destroy my Tinclad which was not too hard it only having a few damage boxes to begin with. He also rammed one of the wooden hulls and set that to the bottom and finally managed to force Matt's monitor to strike it's colours. While we had only sunk one of Grahams. Eventually we run out of time and Graham worked out the victory points while packed everything away.

Despite the Union Heavy losses we managed to score 41 Points while the Rebels could only claim 34. A minor Federal Victory. Due to the fact that Matt fought off the Confederates long enough for me to completely destroy the storage depot. So to conclude while we lost significantly more ships by staying on task we were able to scrape a victory.

Thanks for Reading, I hope to post again on Wednesday.

Cheers Clint

DSC

 I had my first ever game of Dropship Commander on Tuesday night. I was at the Medway wargames club and the game was put on by Dave and Paul who do both come to the Rainham club so I knew I was in good hands.

I played against Paul and Dave was kind enough to guide me through the rules and provide some (well a lot really) of coaching. I know most if not all of you have seen DSC the figures and the terrain before. I will be honest that I was drawn to the game because of the look. But look aside it does seem to be a worthwhile game.

WE played the starter scenario. Paul went first and darted up the board. I reacted ready to contest the centre large building with my infantry. Moving alternate units Paul moved his AA vehicles and demounted them. I countered with my tanks. Paul moved his Tanks and I moved my AA vehicles.

Round Two Paul with the initiative again demounted his troops into the building ready to begin searching for one of the three objectives. I moved and fired my tanks. Both Dave and Paul thought that would be decisive and Pauls AA vehicles would be toast. This was the first time that Paul had encountered my dice rolling agility first hand. An average roll would see 2/3rds of his unit destroyed. I only hit one and failed to do any damage. So my firing was totally ineffective.
Paul returned fire and scooted to cover. My AA vehicles crawled forward and fired. Lots of dice and again no effect. And Paul took that as the cue to destroy my tank transport leaving my no ground bound tanks only moving 4" a turn.

Paul took his second infantry unit to another objective and I stormed all mine into the centre building out numbering Pauls troops 2 to 1. A sure victory everyone thought. And then I rolled the dice. I did some damage but Paul did more despite me rolling twice as many dice as him. Oh dear. Paul then went on to destroy my APC's and then AA vehicles. I was running out of things to have destroyed just my infantry my tanks too far away to do anything and a dropship. All I had destroyed in turn was a single drop ship for Pauls AA vehicles.

Paul discovered the second objective and then I got a single lucky shot in from a missile on my dropship. It managed to destroy Pauls troop dropship and one of his APC's. This left his troops with the objective a mere 2" move a turn to try to exit the board.

The centre building finally yielded to me and my troops lined the walls and fired personal antitank weapons at Pauls Tanks. It worked and I took out two of them. And then with the building cleared I was able to find (one of my few 6's during the whole game) the objective.

The game ended as a draw as the turn countdown turned to 6 and the game ended. We each had one objective marker and had each failed to leave the board. I think both Dave and Paul would agree the dice did not favour me in this game. I had only my tanks and some battered infantry left at the end while Paul still had 3/4 of his starting force. Still a draw is a draw and I was very lucky to get that.

I would like to thank Paul for being a good sport and not laughing too loud at my dice rolling ineptitude and Dave for his invaluable help and advice.

Conclusion: It was a good game and terrific set up. The price of the starter set is affordable and I am tempted. The rules are quick and easy to learn and the game fun. The only reason I have not to go and get the starter set is that several members of the club already have large forces and if I was to get the starter set it would not get used because they have so much.

Thanks for reading and I will try to keep posting alternate days from now on. All the best Clint.

Painting for a friend (2)

These were mostly done before I took the break for a week. I found blogging again to be cathartic so have decided to finish these and have something new to show. As you can see two British officers of the colonial period suitable for leading the naval landing party I have been working on. (see below for a few pics of those). They have a very similar colour scheme to the mounted officer so should fit with him very well. Being on foot and with puttees and not riding boots I see these as more junior officers Lieutenant's or 2nd Lieutenants. Again painted for a friend so he is now overstocked with officers so I should show the Ratings I have finished now.

And here they are! Four ratings suitable for land operations. I have 5 more to finish, as well as a couple of machine guns. The infantry I have started so probably by the end of the week for them. As clearly seen these are all rifle armed and in advancing poses so they are suitable for most table top encounters. I did paint a few more of these for Matt (my friend) a while ago so he should have about 16 infantry now. As well as the officers and a machinegun.


 Talking of Machineguns I have two to assemble and paint for him as well. As they are not started I will use them as part of Curt's painting challenge. So maybe I will get on to them from 15th December onwards.

That's it for today. Thanks for looking. Take care and hope to see you again soon.

A Dark and Lonely Place.

Most of you will not know that I have been suffering from workplace bullying for about a year now. And last week I let it get under my skin and stopped functioning. As such I am now on medication for depression and have counselling on Tuesday morning. I have now put in a complaint in writing and asked for a transfer, but it did get me down big time.

I do not want any sympathy I am and will deal with it and bounce back stronger. I have a few times in the past and know I will in the future as well. But I have not even looked at a brush or model for about a week!

I merely state the above to explain my absence from blogging for the last week.

Ok the important stuff none of this head shrink shit wargames are far more important than that. Some of you will have already noted that I am included in the 4th Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. Which Curt runs from his blog (Link to Curt's Blog.) . I have sent myself the same target as both Ray and Fran Deliberately. This is not in anyway meant as a challenge to them personally but to encourage me to get my finger out as I was originally thinking of a target of 400 points. All the rules are on Curt's blog if you want to know how the points are scored entry fees and the like.

For example a single 28mm foot figure painted and based is worth 5 points, So I would need to paint about 120 of the blighters to reach my personal goal. There are bonus weeks which will give me an additional 50 points IF I submit the required themed model/models in that week. I may well need those if I am going to make the proposed target.

The Challenge starts on the 15th December and continues into March. I personally will be using it to paint the figures I want for the Rainhams Broadside game next June. So yes a new project is about to start. This one will become clear very quickly and I am quite excited by it as I have not seen the game at any shows in the past. You may have of course, but I have not. It will be inspired by both actual history AND a certain film. So no it is not Zombies, hard luck guys! But there will be Camels!

Thanks for reading and with luck I hope to be posting regularly again as I get over this blip!

Cheers Clint